Colorado Springs Utilities’ yearslong plans to build a new electric substation at Austin Bluffs Parkway are moving forward despite neighbors’ concerns it will industrialize the surrounding residential area and negatively impact property values, wildlife and recreation.

The City Council, which acts as the nine-person Colorado Springs Utilities Board, voted 8-0 Tuesday to approve the agency’s request to rezone 8.09 acres of land near Austin Bluffs Parkway and Goldenrod Drive to build the new Central Bluffs substation.

Councilman Dave Donelson said he had conversations with residents during neighborhood meetings about the project, and recused himself after one of them in the audience Tuesday asked him to do so. Donelson said he would recuse himself to avoid the perception he might not be an impartial voter.

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Utilities wants to consolidate and decommission three aging substations built in the 1950s and 1960s, then construct the new Central Bluffs substation to meet current and future electric demand as Colorado Springs continues to grow, project officials said.

The substation equipment is also “becoming difficult and unsafe to maintain and cannot be upgraded to meet current and future demand in the allocated space,” Utilities officials said in meeting documents.

The project is necessary to ensure reliability of Colorado Springs’ electric grid, said Steven Gaeta, Colorado Springs Utilities project manager.

“Essentially, we would not be able to reliably expect power until a new plan was laid out. That would be a big concern, is that you cannot address the anticipated local growth because of the failing infrastructure without a plan to replace it,” he said when questioned about the impact denying the project would have on the greater Colorado Springs community.

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The location at Austin Bluffs and Goldenrod is the best operationally and economically for the project, Utilities officials and consultants said. Utilities purchased seven parcels — four commercial, two residential and one vacant — to build the new substation. This location has electrical system reliability, can transmit and distribute long-term and dependable energy, had the least amount of community impact and was the most cost-efficient, officials said in meeting documents.

The areas where the three substations are located are too small to expand the facilities and their equipment cannot be properly upgraded, said Jessica Davis Colorado Springs Utilities land resource manager.

Utilities cannot expand the Templeton substation, adjacent to Palmer Park and centrally located between the aging Candlewood and Cragmor substations that will be decommissioned, because of deed restrictions on the land, she said.

The new equipment in the consolidated Central Bluffs substation will be more efficient, she said.

Project documents show it will “enhance electric service” for about 6,400 customers served by the Candlewood and Cragmor substations.

Four neighbors living on adjacent Flintridge Drive and Flintridge Circle said they opposed the project because it will disrupt the residential neighborhood feel, lower property values, negatively impact wildlife living in the area such as owls and bats, and could stop area residents from using the open space behind the new substation.

No residents spoke Tuesday in favor of the project.

“Our quality of life has been diminished by the stress of this proposed project. It will be an eyesore seen by residents from their back windows. (Colorado Springs Utilities) is disregarding the health and welfare of residents,” resident Cora Lee Chittenden told the council.

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Utilities was not required to submit a land use plan for the project and has not yet submitted a development plan that will show the substation’s design.

Utilities officials said they will landscape the area to better hide the substation from view. The facility, too, will only be built on about 3.5 acres of the 8-acre project site; the remaining land behind it will be protected as open space, Davis said.

In the future, Utilities plans to solicit requests for proposals from nonprofits to manage that portion of the property, she said.

Council members who supported the project said it would benefit the city as a whole.

“This is very, very challenging and the neighbors will be dramatically impacted. The responsibility of this council is to look at entire city as well,” Councilwoman Nancy Henjum said before voting in favor of the project. “… Sometimes, the sacrifice of a few benefits the greater population.”

Councilwoman Lynette Crow-Iverson told residents and Utilities to stay in contact so neighbors can provide input on landscaping plans and the project in general as it moves forward.

“With all due respect … working with them hasn’t proven useful,” said resident Rachel Shoaff, who spoke against the project Tuesday.

Utilities promised to show neighbors renderings of the project, wildlife and noise studies, but never did, she said.

“To suggest that we hold our nose and accept this, and Utilities will work with us, … I don’t think it’s a fair statement to expect them to work with us.”